Loves Park does not get a lot of media attention — for which it should be thankful — because it means the nonpartisan city government runs smoothly and the political environment is stable. It has been that way pretty much since the city was founded in 1947.

For nearly 18 years, southeast Rockford native Darryl Lindberg has helmed the city as mayor; before that he was police chief. Lindberg has also worked on statewide municipal issues since 2001 as a board member of the Illinois Municipal League. That work paid off: a week ago he was selected as president of the influential organization for 2013-14.

“We represent 10.7 million people, about 96 percent of the total municipal population of Illinois,” he said Monday. “Right now, some of our biggest issues are the pension problem, which affects all communities. Another thing we are trying to do is to pass legislation to force the state to make direct deposits” of money owed to municipalities so the state can’t siphon off some of the money for its own use.

Another important priority for the League is watching out for legislators who introduce unfunded mandates that require cities and villages to do something the state demands and making local taxpayers pay for it.

“Legislators will come up with something new, with no way to fund it, and boom, it becomes state law, and local communities have to come up with a way to fund it.” The IML keeps an eye out for bills attached to other bills in effort to sneak something into law without scrutiny.

“When a trailer bill comes along that includes an unfunded mandate, we’ll get an emergency email saying alert our legislators,” Lindberg said.

The mayor is also president of the Illinois Risk Management Association, which provides risk insurance to about 600 communities.

Belvidere’s new mayor, Mike Chamberlain, was named to the board, which is unusual considering that he was only elected in April. “The board was impressed with him,” Lindberg said.

Rockton Village President Dale Adams is the board’s sergeant at arms. Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey also is a board member.

Because of Lindberg’s presidency, “we will have the opportunity to host our summer board meeting here, to showcase the area to board members and spouses.”

Election 2014: At 10 a.m. today at the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center, Bob Springer will become the latest candidate for Winnebago County sheriff, seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination in the March 18 primary. Randal Olson, who ran in 1998 as a Republican, and Rockford Police Department veteran Bob Redmond also are Democratic candidates. UPS security expert Gary Caruana is seeking the GOP nomination. Sheriff Dick Meyers is retiring.

Springer, 55, is a 31-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department. He rose to the level of deputy chief and retired in 2010 to become regional director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System, which coordinates emergency response requests among law enforcement agencies. He resigned from that post Monday to run for sheriff.

The Sheriff’s Department employs around 450 people and operates the county jail, a 911 center, emergency management, civil process and other functions.

Springer, who lives in Durand, intends to use his experience at the Sheriff’s Department and ILEAS to build better and stronger relationships among police and sheriff’s departments in the area to work together to fight crime.